California State Route 78

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State Route 78

Defined by S&HC § 378, maintained by Caltrans

Length:

192.46 mi^[1] (309.73 km)

Formed:

1934^[2]

West end:

I-5 in Oceanside

Major
junctions:

I-15 in Escondido

SR 79 at Julian

SR 86 in Brawley

East end:

I-10 in Blythe

State highways in California (list - pre-1964)
County routes in California (list)
< SR 77		SR 79 >
History - Unconstructed - Deleted - Freeway - Scenic

State Route 78 runs from Oceanside to Blythe. Its western terminus is in San Diego County and its eastern terminus is in Riverside County.

This route is part of the California Freeway and Expressway System^[3] and is eligible for the State Scenic Highway System^[4].

1 Route description
2 History
3 Future developments
4 Major intersections
5 References
6 External links

[edit] Route description

For the first few miles starting out from Oceanside SR 78 is a freeway. It begins at a nonstandard interchange with Interstate 5 and Vista Way, including a traffic signal. Then Route 78 goes through Vista. The freeway then continues into San Marcos and Escondido and intersects with Interstate 15. After that the freeway abruptly ends at the intersection with Broadway, after the Centre City Parkway interchange (old U.S. Route 395). Route 78 then snakes through the Escondido city streets and leaves the city on the way to the San Diego Wild Animal Park and Ramona. In Ramona, Route 78 meets State Route 67. 78 then continues on a curvy mountain road to Julian where it meets State Route 79. After that, the highway goes into Imperial County and Brawley, when it is concurrent with State Route 86. The highway goes through the desert into Riverside County where it ends in Blythe at Interstate 10.

It is known as Ronald Packard Parkway from Interstate 5 in Oceanside to Interstate 15 in Escondido^[5], and Ben Hulse Highway from Route 86 near Brawley to Interstate 10 near Blythe.

Major cities Bolded cities are officially-designated control cities for signs
Oceanside (westbound) Escondido Ramona San Ysabel Julian Brawley Blythe

[edit] History

A new interchange has been constructed at Las Posas Road in San Marcos, which will aid Palomar College students and hopefully clear up traffic on the Rancho Santa Fe exit.

Before the freeway was built, SR 78 was routed on Vista Way from Oceanside east to downtown Vista. After this, it followed Santa Fe Drive (currently County Route S14) east. Then it followed Mission Road to the current end of the freeway and the current highway routing at Interstate 15. ^[2]

In the 1980s, the section of SR 78 east of Brawley was known as Imperial County Route S78.^[2]

Construction took place in 1998 to add the Vista Village Drive interchange, and another lane was added to the ramp between I-5 NB and SR 78 eastbound to alleviate the congestion at that intersection.

In 1999 there was a standoff between an armed woman and the California Highway Patrol, jamming traffic on the freeway for several hours.

[edit] Future developments

There may be another interchange added to SR 78 to meet Rancho Del Oro Road in Oceanside.

The I-5 interchange will be improved to get rid of the traffic signal, although that would involve getting rid of the Park and Ride lot next to the end of the freeway.

In the Imperial and Riverside County portion from Brawley to Blythe, the road goes through several washes. After a rain during the desert monsoon season, these washes can be left with several inches of water, sand, and rock debris. There is a proposal to improve drainage by raising the roadway and installing culverts. ^[6]

[edit] Major intersections

Note: Except where prefixed with a letter, postmiles were measured in 1964, based on the alignment as it existed at that time, and do not necessarily reflect current mileage. The numbers reset at county lines; the start and end postmiles in each county are given in the county column.

County	Location	Postmile ^[7]^[8]^[9]	#^[10]	Destinations	Notes
San Diego SD 0.00-95.31	Oceanside	0.00		Vista Way – Oceanside	Continuation beyond I-5
		0.00	1	I-5 (San Diego Freeway) – Los Angeles, San Diego	Westbound exit and eastbound entrance; signed as exits 1A (south) and 1B (north); no exit number eastbound
		West end of freeway
		0.74	1C	Jefferson Street	Signed as exit 1 eastbound
		1.50	2	El Camino Real (CR S11)
		3.32	3	College Boulevard
			4A	Plaza Drive	Eastbound exit and entrance
		4.38	4B	Emerald Drive	Signed as exit 4 westbound
	Vista	5.94	6A	Melrose Drive	Eastbound exit and westbound entrance
		R6.19	6B	Vista Village Drive (CR S13)	Signed as exit 6 westbound
		6.94	7	Escondido Avenue
		7.71	8	Mar Vista Drive
		9.08	9	Sycamore Avenue
	San Marcos	10.61	11A	Rancho Santa Fe Road (CR S10)
		11.18	11B	Las Posas Road
		12.13	12	San Marcos Boulevard (CR S12)
		12.91	13	Twin Oaks Valley Road
		14.24	14	Barham Drive, Woodland Parkway
		15.49	15	Nordahl Road
	Escondido	R16.54	17	I-15 – Riverside, San Diego	Signed as exits 17A (south) and 17B (north) eastbound
		R17.27	17C	Centre City Parkway (Bus. 15)	Eastbound exit and westbound entrance
		East end of freeway
		N17.68		Broadway, Lincoln Parkway
		T19.27		CR S6 (Valley Parkway)
	San Diego	R22.56		San Pasqual Road
	Ramona	35.52		SR 67 south (Main Street) / 10th Street – San Diego
	Santa Ysabel	51.11		SR 79 north	West end of SR 79 overlap
	Julian	58.13		SR 79 south – Lake Cuyamaca, Cuyamaca Park	East end of SR 79 overlap
		69.69		CR S2 south – Agua Caliente County Park	West end of CR S2 overlap
		70.01		CR S2 north – Warner Springs, Hemet	East end of CR S2 overlap
		76.84		CR S3 (Yaqui Pass Road)
Imperial IMP 0.00-80.74		13.17 86 43.56		SR 86 north – Indio	West end of SR 86 overlap
	Westmorland	86 27.51		CR S30
	Westmorland	86 27.2		CR S26
	Brawley	86 20.63 13.18		SR 86 south (1st Street) – Calexico	East end of SR 86 overlap
	Brawley	13.80		SR 111 north / CR S31 (8th Street) – Calipatria	West end of SR 111 overlap
		15.04		SR 111 south – Calexico	West end of SR 111 overlap
		18.65		SR 115 north (West Road) – Calipatria	West end of SR 115 overlap
		21.02		SR 115 south – Holtville	East end of SR 115 overlap
				CR S32 (Butters Road)
				CR S33 (Green Road)
		52.35		CR S34 (Ogilby Road)
Riverside RIV 0.00-16.17	Blythe	16.17		I-10 – Indio, Blythe	Interchange